Interesting Weekend

It went by fast.

Friday night we trained all the dogs in agility and then went out to dinner at the Northwoods Bar and Grill.  I love their wedge fries.  I had a chicken sandwhich with lots of cheese on it.  Then we went home and I worked on my Access project – Pet Provisions.  I was up til 2:30am but I got it done!  Only got a few hours of sleep though. 

 Saturday morning I converted the AMBOR data spreadsheets to Access and wrote queries and was able to pull data for the 2009 rankings.  This will save me TONS of time every quarter when I need to compile the rankings for the Highlights newsletter.  Then I left to go to a church even with my stepmom.  It was called the Spring Fling Tea.  I wasn’t sure what to expect since they go to a normal church.  But it was alot of fun.  They had alot of good food and the speaker was wonderful.  She spoke about grace.  Dianna’s mom, June, and sister in law, Nancy, went too.  It was a women’s event.  They had the men serve us.  One of the men serving us was my dad!  That was neat.  He had a good time too.

Once I got home we trained the dogs in agility again.  They are doing well.  I really need to come up with a plan for Vada for specific things to work on.  And I need to figure out the next steps for Seven’s contact training.  I bet I’ll get tons of ideas in a week when I’m in IA.  The we took my van up to Tires Plus to get some gaskets replaced.  It wasn’t going in til Sunday but we dropped it off early so we didn’t have to get up early Sunday morning.

Today I spent the morning studying for my online Access theory test.  Then I took the test.  Then we went and got my van – along with a quote for $1500 more in work that they think the van needs.  From there I had to go into work since we had a power outage in the building and I had to go in and power up the servers.  I ended up having to work 5 hours.  I got home too late to watch Desperate Housewives and I didn’t get out to train the dogs at all today.  But I was happy that I got my test out of the way this morning.

 Tomorrow is back to work!  I get to register for my next HTC classes.  I’m going to take XHTML over the summer and probably a SQL class in the fall.

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2 Years?

I just realized that this blog is now just over 2 years old.  I would not have guessed that!

Seven weaved 6 poles tonight!  They were all together like a normal set of 6.  I’m very excited about that.  I’ll keep adding poles on and soon he will be doing all 12.  Narc did better tonight on the 4 poles.  He’s still got them further apart and at 2 o’clock and 8 o’clock.  He has a very hard time going around the end pole when I send him from the left side of the poles.  He gets so excited that he runs past them.  But he made progress.  I worked Vada on entries on the full set.  She had trouble sending out to them.  She kept entering 1 pole too early.  But we worked through it and had success.  I teased her with the toy next to her too and she totally ignored it.  Copper had fun weaving.  I used the same setup as Narc but a bit closer together and a bit angled but close to in a line.  I’m using food with him as it seems to movivate him alot more in his old age vs tugging.  Prozac also had her second session on weaves.  She’s figuring out well to go through the poles.  I think she had shaping experience early on in her life and it shows.  All the dogs worked on contacts tonight too and got fed alot in the position.  It’s so nice to be able to work outside!

Saturday was a training day.  I trained agility.  Then went to Schutzhund.  Then came home and trained some more agility.  Seven and Copper got in a fight which kind of put a damper on my day.  Both got hurt but nothing that required a trip to the vet.  I hope they can still be out loose together and be safe.  It was pretty scary.  Terrier fights are not good.  Thank goodness they are both only half terrier.  And thank goodness Vada stayed out of it.  So Karl and I went out to a Mexican place in Ramsey.  I had a margarita to calm my nerves.

Sunday we went to the rental house and fixed the screen that had come out on the porch.  The renters are taking good care of the house and were raking the yard.  It was looking pretty nice.  We trained agility in the yard too.

Monday was my Access class.   We did an exercise in class that was fun.  It involved alot of queries.  I have a project due on Monday.  I have to do an online test by Monday.  And I have part of another project due on Monday.  This weekend is going to involve alot of homework.  Plus I have to figure out when I can take the next in class test as I will be out of town that week.

Tuesday I was suppose to have dinner with my high school girlfriends but we had to cancel.  That gave me the opportunity to stay home and enjoy the weather and train the dogs.

Wednesday was Seven’s Super Puppy class.  We are on week 8 already.  I got there about 10 minutes late.  We did restrained recalls, go outs and broad jumps.  Seven had a blast as usual.

Last night was our last winter session for agility classes.  Vada and I did awesome.  I made a few mistakes but she did really really well.  Made up for the previous week.  Now we have a week off and then we start the summer sessions – outside on grass.  I think being able to work her alot at home has helped her be more thoughtful in class and a bit less high.  Karl had a really good night with Fringe too.  Summer session worked out that we have class on different nights.  But we are both very happy with the classes that we got into.

I’ve got to start getting pictures to put in my blog.  That might make it a bit more interesting.

Spring is Finally Here!

I think it is finally here to stay!

Last night Seven had Super Puppy class.  As we were standing in line to do recalls I was realizing how he was not focusing on the other dogs.  He was focusing on me.  And offering lots of behaviors.  Also his heeling has gotten a little closer and fronts are getting a little closer.  His space seems to be getting smaller.  Or he thinks my space is getting smaller.  Sue noticed it too and commented on what a change she has seen in him since we started the class not many weeks ago.  When I would leave him with her for the recalls he was not happy about her holding his collar.  Last night he leaned against her leg getting into position.  He had no concerns about her what so ever and was just ready to do the recall.  I really think that all of the dogs could benefit from doing obedience classes.  It’s fun but it’s not crazy fun.  It’s quieter and mindful.  And it creates a different kind of bond.  I’d like to get Vada into a class to clean up her fronts, finishes and moving stand.  I wouldn’t mind getting Copper or Vada into a Utility class either.  And maybe having Pro do the next Super Puppy class.

Last night I brought our dog walk and aframe out to the yard.  I can not find the hardware to put them together though.  I was able to put the tire together though.  I did not have time to work anyone though.  I did, however, work the 4 on 2 x 2 poles on Sunday.  Narc and Seven had a really hard time remembering.  Vada was awesome!  I think Narc and Seven just need to be worked alot more often.  Hopefully we can get a bunch of sessions in starting this weekend.  I need to get serious about Seven’s contact training too.  I’ve got him doing hand touches on the ground in front of me.  I just need to move it back to the board now.  He’s brilliant so I’m sure he’ll learn quickly if I would just train him on a regular basis.  We need to work on heeling alot more too.  And I’d like to start Pro on the 2 x 2 weaves.  She’s maxing out in CPE so we’ve got to learn weaves to move on.

Thursday we had a great agility class.  We only had 3 dogs on my side so we had alot of time to talk through and work through issues.

Friday we went to the opening night of Fast & Furious.  It was awesome!  We went with Dad and Dianna. 

Saturday we had our first day of outdoor Schutzhund training.  It was so nice to be outside again!  Both Narc and Vada did really well.